Pharmacists to offer advice on alcoholism and depression

PHARMACIES in the Capital are set to provide help with alcoholism and mental health after being handed further powers as part of a pilot scheme.

Chemists in the city will add to their growing list of services over the coming weeks in a bid to make treatment more accessible and take the strain off GP surgeries.

The pilot sites – at two chemists in Shandwick Place and the Inch – recently began providing sexual health testing, and if the move is successful it could see the scheme rolled out across the city.

It is understood anyone presenting themselves at a pharmacy displaying symptoms of ill health which could be attributed in some way to alcohol will be offered help. This would see a person offered one-to-one counselling and general information, with the option of being referred to a GP should that not work.

The two pharmacies will also deal with mild symptoms of mental illness, such as moderate depression, another huge problem which chokes up doctors' surgeries across the city.

NHS Lothian's director of pharmacy Profesor Pat Murray said: "This is a further welcome expansion of community pharmacy healthcare services, which I'm sure will be well received by the public.

"Our community pharmacists are highly skilled health professionals able to provide advice and treatment on a whole host of minor illnesses and ailments.

"Being able to access these services by dropping in while out for lunch or shopping will offer a quick and convenient service."

The Scottish Government launched the Pharmore project last year to encourage busy workers to get health checks without the hassle of booking a GP appointment and taking time off work.

The services offered run into the evening and weekends and will run until 2010, at which point the pilot's success will be evaluated.

So far the initiative has produced mixed results. The pharmacists involved say traditionally difficult groups to target such as men or ethnic minorities are seeking advice when they wouldn't generally visit a GP.

However, the Evening News revealed last month that NHS Lothian's target of having 40 per cent of smokers who quit doing so through help from a pharmacy has fallen woefully short, at only eight per cent.

Other initiatives such as needle exchanges and testing for blood-borne disease – both of which rely on word-of-mouth for awareness among at-risk groups – are also bedding in at the two pharmacies.

Deborah Zuckert, primary care pharmacist co-ordinator for the project, added: "Our community pharmacists and healthcare staff at both pharmacies will be providing services which are not usually offered in a pharmacy setting and this pilot will help us examine what services can be offered by community pharmacies to the public."